1. P16318: GASEOUS MASS FLOW RATE CONTROLLER
Summary:
As oil and gasoline prices continue to rise, along with their environmental concerns, the discovery of natural gas sources in the United States creates the opportunity to utilize natural gas as an alternative for transportation fuel
•This project relates to the means for delivering a portion of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or any gaseous fuel for use in an internal combustion engine through the use of a mass flow distribution device
•It is our goal to create a test fixture which involves the stepper motor provided by CTS Inc. that can control mass flow in a repeatable and accurate manner
Cam
Seat
Ball
Actuator
Regulated Output Natural Gas
Input Natural Gas
The final design integrates a ball and seal valve operated by a push rod that rides a cam.
The cam is driven by an automotive actuator that uses CAN protocol.
Lifting the ball a known distance (a function of the cam profile and actuator position) results in a solvable choke area and mass flow rate.
By measuring flow out of the device under certain conditions we could plot the position to lift graph of the device which can be used to tune it